


Tidying Up with Merlin and Arthur

by PJOfanatix



Series: Arthur Returns [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Banter, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, M/M, Modern Era, Oneshot, Post-Canon, Post-Series, domestic humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25942162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PJOfanatix/pseuds/PJOfanatix
Summary: It’s been a month since Arthur rose again from Avalon and started living with Merlin in the modern world. But Merlin isn’t the neatest housemate and Arthur has discovered an easy solution thanks to the invention of Netflix.Also known as: Arthur gets fed up with Merlin leaving the house messy and invites Marie Kondo to come help.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Arthur Returns [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2102493
Comments: 10
Kudos: 145





	Tidying Up with Merlin and Arthur

**Author's Note:**

> This is the product of binge-watching Netflix to the point where you watch Marie Kondo immediately followed by BBC's Merlin. Enjoy!

All Merlin wanted was a relaxing evening after a long day of work.

It had been a month since Arthur had climbed out of the Lake of Avalon, sopping wet and stumbling around in confusion at what the world had become. A month since his 1500 years of waiting were over. Since that moment, Merlin hadn’t felt his all-consuming, boundless joy waver at finally being able to be with his king again.

Until now.

“You _what?!_ ” Merlin yelled. “Why in the world would you do that?”

Arthur gestured around the room. “Look at the state of this place! A couple more things lying around and we wouldn’t be able to see the floor. How can you expect me, the king of Camelot, to live in a home like this?”

Merlin scanned the room. Okay, so maybe there were a couple clothes lying on the floor, and maybe the dishes hadn’t been done in three days, but he had magic. With a nod of his head, all the items would be back in their rightful places. He narrowed his eyes. “I’m sorry you don’t find this state fit for royalty, _sire_ , but you and I both know I can fix this in under a second.”

“That may be so but doing magic to clean things up every couple of weeks won’t get to the root of this problem.”

“And inviting a stranger into our home will?” Merlin challenged.

Arthur gave a confident nod. “I’ve seen the work this woman does, Merlin. It’s outstanding. She helps you transform your home into a beautiful organized living space in an easy five steps. It’s brilliant.”

“It’s a TV show,” Merlin said, rolling his eyes. “I should have never gotten you Netflix. How did you even track her down?”

Arthur shrugged. “It doesn’t matter how. Marie Kondo will be visiting our home tomorrow afternoon and I expect to see some big changes around here very soon.”

Merlin groaned. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

*~*~*~*~*

“Hello! Nice to meet you!”

Merlin stared in bewilderment at the two petite women standing on his doorstep surrounded by a huge camera crew. He gave an awkward smile and stepped out of the way as Arthur, ever the gracious host, invited them in.

“Can I get you anything?” Arthur asked, inviting them to sit on the couch which Merlin had quickly cleaned moments before the ladies arrived. “Coffee, tea, water? Merlin, here, makes a wonderful cup of Earl Grey.”

Merlin bit back a smile thinking of how the only drinks in Arthur’s vocabulary a month ago had been water and mead. “Yeah, I can just get some boiling in the kettle if you’d like,” he offered.

Both women shook their heads. “Just water will be alright,” one of them mentioned. The other woman, who Merlin recognized from the show as Marie Kondo, nodded with a smile.

Merlin brought back two glasses of water and sat down next to Arthur on the couch. Marie Kondo began speaking as the other woman translated for her.

“So why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?”

Merlin stiffened. He hadn’t even thought of the implications of bringing a regular person into their home. What was he supposed to say? That he had lived in this house for over a thousand years waiting in the hopes that Arthur would rise again just as a talking dragon had once told him. That he was _the_ Merlin from the Arthurian legends and sitting next to him was _the_ King Arthur who had united Albion. They would run screaming in the other direction.

Arthur seemed to notice and took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Well, I’m currently in between jobs right now,” he started slowly. Merlin remembered explaining to him that was the best response when someone asked about his career. “And I just moved in about a month ago. Merlin has been living here much longer.”

“I work at the archives down the road,” Merlin elaborated. “Help with translating old documents and all that. Been living in this house for what seems like eternity now.”

Both women laughed at that. Merlin relaxed slightly. At least what he said didn’t seem suspicious.

“I’ll say. And yet you don’t seem to find time to tidy up a bit every day, do you Merlin?” Arthur teased.

Merlin glared at him. “It takes two to make a mess, clotpole.”

Arthur grinned. “Anyway, we would really benefit from a clear organization system so it’ll be easy to know where to put things every day.”

Marie Kondo nodded. “The best way to tackle cleaning is through category, not room. We start off with clothes, followed by books, papers, miscellaneous (or _komono_ ), and finally sentimental items. We only want to keep things that spark joy and improve our lives.”

And so the work began. Merlin had expected Arthur to have significantly less clothes over the span of a month than he had accumulated over 1500 years, but it turned out he was wrong. He hadn’t accounted for the sheer number of garments matching the current fashion trends Arthur had demanded once Merlin explained them to him. A wardrobe fit for a king, he had said.

The ladies curiously eyed the large piles of both their clothes after they had been set out on their bed, clearly noticing that Merlin’s was a conglomeration of vintage fashion from decades before and Arthur’s weirdly matched all of the items you could spot on the racks these past few weeks. Merlin counted himself lucky that men’s fashion changed less than women’s.

“I like more vintage pieces,” Merlin explained carefully. “Whereas Arthur likes to keep up with the latest trends.”

“What can I say? I’m a very fashionable guy.”

“Mhm. Not like I bought you half of those clothes or anything.”

The t-shirt Arthur threw just narrowly missed his head and landed at the other end of the room. Marie Kondo said something and the other woman translated with a laugh.

“She wonders if this is how many of the messes are made in the first place.”

Both Merlin and Arthur’s faces reddened at that and Merlin muttered an excuse, getting back to folding his clothes. When he eventually picked up the t-shirt Arthur had thrown, he tossed it in the donation pile. No, that item _did not_ spark joy.

*~*~*~*~*

The books, papers, and miscellaneous items had been surprisingly quick to go through. Yes, there had been a couple bumps in the road, like when the ladies were wondering why Merlin had the original copy of Galileo’s _Starry Messenger_ (the real answer: it was a gift), but he felt lucky he could put most of it down to working at the archives. His and Arthur’s papers were already fairly organized, including the old letters and documents he had magically preserved from Camelot. Those were hidden deep in a desk drawer. He counted his blessings that neither Marie Kondo nor the translator had seen them. That would not be easy to explain.

Finally came the sentimental items. As he stared at all he had left from Camelot, whether it was Gwen’s crown or Gaius’s potions bottles or a bottle of mead he had shared with Gwaine that one time he actually went to the tavern, Merlin took a shaky breath to calm the tightness welling up in his chest. Over a thousand years may have passed, but it still felt like yesterday.

He turned around to see Arthur fingering his crown and Excalibur hanging on a wall. It really had been nearly yesterday for him, hadn’t it? Not long had passed in his mind since he had returned and Camelot would have been significantly more than a distant memory like it was to Merlin.

He walked across the room and pulled Arthur into a tight hug, burying his face in his neck and refusing to let go until the shaking against his chest stopped. “I know,” he whispered. “I know.”

When they had stood there locked in an embrace long enough for the jaggedly painful memories to soften, Merlin carefully eased himself out of Arthur’s arms and headed over to face Marie Kondo.

“Some items may spark as much pain as they do joy, but sometimes they are what we need,” Merlin explained. “Arthur and I lost some people very important to us and this is all we have left of them.”

“We will not be discarding any of these items,” Arthur concluded.

Marie Kondo gave him a look of sympathy. “She says she understands,” the woman translated. “And that it is very wise for you to see such value in what you possess.”

Merlin and Arthur exchanged a look. “Yes, well,” Arthur started. “Merlin _can_ occasionally be wise. Not very often though.”

This time, it was Merlin’s turn to throw a pillow at him.

*~*~*~*~*

“Thank you!”

Merlin and Arthur waved as the women and the camera crew left the house after five days of arduous filming and cleaning. With a bright smile and some last words of gratitude, Merlin shut the door and followed Arthur inside. He was more than grateful to finally collapse on the couch, eyeing the newly organized shelves around the room.

“I still can’t believe you made me do that,” Merlin said, sinking into the couch as Arthur scrolled through Netflix to find a new show. “You could have just asked me to clean a bit more, you know?”

“Well, you never did listen when I gave you orders in Camelot, did you?” Arthur said cheekily. “Besides, it was fun. Gaius would be proud.”

Merlin laughed. “He would always complain about the mess in my room. I actually almost got killed because of it once.”

Arthur turned off the TV and shifted to face Merlin. “What? You know what, I shouldn’t even be surprised. At this point, I wonder what hasn’t gotten you nearly killed.”

“I wasn’t really expecting it!” Merlin protested. “It was when you were searching all the chambers for evidence of sorcery in the castle because of the plague that had filled the city.”

“Ah yes,” Arthur remembered. “Your chambers in particular were quite the mess.”

“I had left a book detailing magic and magical spells out. It was right on the floor too. I’m surprised you didn’t see it.” He rose from the couch and headed towards their bedroom. “Well, I’m off to bed then.”

Arthur shot up, racing down the hall to follow him. “What?! Merlin, you idiot! How could you just leave something like that out in the open? How did I not even see it? Merlin, get back here! _Merlin!_ ”


End file.
